Young Love
by sarabirchtree
Summary: Fralice at the fair. One-shot.


"What in Godric's name is _that_?"

"It's just a ferris wheel, Frank. No different than flying on a broom!" Alice tugged on their entwined hands and pulled him closer to the line for the muggle contraption, despite his best efforts (or at least best against the innocent eyes and pouting lips on Alice's face) to stay far far away from the mystical big wheel.

He didn't know how Alice had convinced to come to this fair. Last he could remember she was dragging him along to a tiny music shop on the outskirts of London, leaving with a record of some guy with the same forename as Frank, buying a newspaper just for the hell of it (even though the pictures didn't even move which takes all the fun out of a newspaper), and Alice squealing about an advertisement for a fair going on nearby. She went on to explain, her eyes shining with excitement, that Mary had told her about fairs with amusement rides and delicious food once and that it was necessary they go right now. She nearly yanked his arm right out of its socket, turning it into a chase through a maze of alleys and backstreets, until they were leaning against each other, completely out of breath and grinning madly.

When they at last stumbled upon the fairground, oblivious to the strange looks thrown at the laughing eighteen year olds, Frank bought them both a whole roll of tickets with the muggle money leftover from the shop, all the while Alice standing close behind, whispering which bills he should hand over. The second he finished paying, her hand was in his again. This time they took their time to stroll through the grounds, observing everything around them and getting lost in the middle of the fair and in their casual conversation. Frank performed a spot-on impersonation of Moody and (after recovering from her laughter) Alice swung their arms to and fro as she pointed out all the things she knew the names of.

"That's cotton candy and those are corndogs and that's a booth for getting your future read like a seer- muggles call it something else-" he smiled as she hopped onto her toes to peer around the fortune booth, "And there are all the rides!"

He quirked a brow. "Er— what do they do?"

"Well, uh—" she glanced around desperately, not knowing much about most of the rides. Luckily, her eyes landed on one that matched one of Mary's descriptions. "That one right there!"

"What in Godric's name is _that_?" he asked, baffled.

"It's just a Ferris wheel, Frank. No different than flying on a broom! We should go on it."

Looking back and forth between the ride, which did not look safe at all especially considering there was no magic involved, and her face, he finally sighed, sticking a hand into his pocket with a shrug. "You're stubborn," he states, even though in reality she hadn't even had to convince him.

Turning to face him, she landed a chaste kiss on his lips, "I know. Thank you." Another peck.

"Yeah, yeah," he grinned. "Now we better get in line before it gets too long. I see a huge mass of children coming this way, go go go!" He threw an arm over her shoulder and, without any warning, started running to the queue. Snorting, "Git," Alice grabbed at the fabric of his shirt to stop him from colliding with the ticket attendant, who was only an innocent bystander of their shenanigans and really did not deserve to be crashed into.

She also probably didn't want to watch two strangers make out in front of her, but alas, Alice had tugged a little too hard on his shirt, pulling him a little too close, which led to him leaning a little too far down and both of them exhibiting a little too much of their tongues. (Or more like a lot, but semantics.)

"Excuse me," a high-pitched voice cut in on their snogging.

They broke apart, both blushing furiously when they saw the cutest little girl standing right behind them. Her mousy hair up in pigtails, Alice guessed the girl couldn't have been more than seven years old.

"Excuse me," she said again, "Are you in line for the ride? Please and thank you?"

Before Alice could conceal her "Aww," a woman, who appeared to be the girl's mother, strode up to them, a frazzled and apologetic look on her face. "I am so sorry. It's my daughter's birthday today, but she knows better than bother other people, don't you, Lizzie?"

"Hmph," was all the mom got in response.

At this point Frank had gotten on his knees, leveling out the height difference between him and Lizzie. "Hey, Lizzie. I'm Frank. Wow, is it really your birthday?" She nodded. "How many years old are you now? Wait, let me guess; I'd say you have to be at least thirteen. Am I right?"

"Uh-uh."

He looked scandalized. "No?! Okay, then fourteen, yeah?"

She giggled, "No."

"Wow, I give up. How old are you?"

"Seven," she said, holding up seven fingers proudly.

"No!"

"Yes!" She continued to giggle at him.

"Well, you must be very mature for your age, Liz."

But she pouted at this, reminding him of Alice not ten minutes ago. "No."

"Impossible. Why not?"

She leaned forward. "I've never kissed anyone."

He smiled, "That doesn't mean you're not mature. You just haven't met the right person yet."

"I don't want to wait any longer!"

"Well…" he glanced behind him and, seeing that the mother and Alice were conversing, lowered his voice to a whisper. "How about I let you in on a little secret that might make you feel better? Would you like that?" She nodded fervently. "Okay, but you have to promise you won't tell anyone."

"I promise to never ever tell anyone ever."

"Alright," he nodded solemnly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small, red velvet box. "You see this? It's a ring. I'm going to use it to ask my girlfriend there to marry me tonight." The small girl's eyes went wide and her mouth hung open a tiny bit. Frank beamed, "And do you know how old I was when I first met her?"

"Nuh-uh."

"I was seven, just like you are now."

"Really?" she asked quietly.

"Really truly." Carefully, he put the ring back in its pocket. "And she was my very first kiss."

"Wow," Lizzie whispered. She looked up, holding eye contact with him with complete confidence and optimism in her eyes. He could almost see himself twelve years ago looking back up at him for a moment. "She's going to say yes, Mister Frank. I know it."

"I really, really hope you're right, Lizzie."

Alice's voice called out from behind him, "Frank, we should be get going. It's later than I thought and our reservation is in ten minutes. Guess we'll have to ride the Ferris wheel some other day. You ready?"

Standing back onto his feet, he brushed off his trousers and threw her a grin. "Yeah, I'm all set." He reached forward and ruffled Lizzie's hair, "Bye, Lizzie. Have a very happy birthday."

"Goodbye, Mister Frank. Bye, Missus Frank!"

Alice threw him an amused glance and laughed lightheartedly. He shrugged, seemingly just as bewildered as her, but winked back at Lizzie before walking away with Alice.

"What was all that about?" she asked, resting her head on his shoulder.

"No idea whatsoever." They reached an apparating safety point. "Shall we?"

She smiled. "We shall."

He returned the gesture and fingered the box in his pocket, praying more than anything that Lizzie was right as they apparated away with clasped hands.

(She was absolutely right.)

(Well, technically, Alice didn't say yes, she more shrieked it ten times in a row, but, again, semantics.)


End file.
